Improvement in corn-shellers



G. W. FITTS.

Corn Sh'eller.

No. 4 ,670. Patented July 11, 1865.

N PETERS. Fl olo-Lilh v D c an Improved Corn-Sheller, or machine for re-UNITED STATES -GEORGE W. FITTS, OF SOUTH HAMPTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN-SHELLERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,670, dated July 11,1

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. Frr'rs, of South Ham pton, of the countyofRockingham, of the State of New Hampshire,have inventedmovingkernelsof maize from the cob and separating them from the dust orextraneous matters created during the operation of detaching them fromthe cob; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in thefollowing specification and represented in the accompanying drawings, ofwhich- Figure 1 is a vertical and longitudinal section of it. Fig. 2isatop view, Fig. 8 a horizontal section, and Fig. 4 an elevation, of it.

In the said drawings, A denotes the frame or case of the machine. Withinthis frame are two shelling-wheels, B G, which are arranged with respectto each other as represented. The wheel B has a beveled circumference,which is provided with teeth. The wheel 0 has teeth or projectionsformed on itsinner face, and it also has cogs on its periphery, suchcogs being made to engage with a pinion, b, fixed on the shaft 0 of thewheel B.

There is a crank, d, and a fiy-wheel, w, applied to the shaft 0 of thewheel B. By turning this crank the two wheels B G will be put inrevolution. VA hopper or mouth, D, is placed over the said two wheels B(J, and has within it a presser or board, E, which extends down in frontof the periphery of the wheel B and the grinding-face of the wheel 0,and turns on a pin, f, extending through the upper part of the hopper. Aspring, 9, projects from the presser-board E, and has a weight, k,suspended fromit, the same serving to press the board toward the twowheels B C.

There extends from the wheel B and alongside of the abrasive face of thewheel 0 a curved chute, F,which leads u ptoa discharging-throat, G,arranged as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In front of the wheel (I, and over the chute F, and extending up intothe throat G, is a board or presser, H,which is pressed toward the wheel0 by means of a spring, 71, and serves to keep the cob against the saidwheel 0 while such wheel may be revolving. By this action of the chuteF, the wheel 0, and the presser H, the cob, after having its kernelsseparated from it by the conjoint operation of the two wheels B (J andthe presser IE, will be driven into, through, and out of the throat G.

Below the two wheels B O and the curved chute F are three inclinedplanes or boards, I K L, which are arranged with respect to each otherand the wheels, and in the case A, in manner as shown in Fig. 1.Thelowermost ofsaid boardsviz., Linclines into a dischargingspout, M.Furthermore, a partition, N, extends down from the board I to within ashort distance from the upper surface of the board L, and also to withina short distance from the lower end of the inclined board K. Theseboards I, K, L, and N extend quite across the case, from side to side ofit.

A rotary fan wheel or blower, O, is disposed with respect to the threeboards I, N, and Lin manner as shown in Fig. 1, and Within a chamber, P,formed in part by the partition N. This chamber opens over the board L,and has an air-inlet passage,i, through its sidc'and about the shaft lof the fan-wheel. A crossed band, m, proceeding from a pulley, n, on theshaftof the wheel B, communicates motion to a pulley, 0, fixed on thesaid shaft l of the fan-wheel, and thus revolves the'fan-wheel in suchmanner as to cause it to draw air into the chamber P and discharge it ina stream upon and up the plane L.

In the operation of this machine the ear of corn or maize, on beingdropped with its smaller end foremost into the receiving-hopper D, willbe drawn around by the two wheels B O, which by their action on it willrevolve it and strip from it its kernels, which, falling on theplane I,will be discharged therefrom upon the plane K, and from thence will falldown uponthe plane L, and byit and the spout Mbe discharged from thecase. In its passage from the plane K to the plane L the corn will meetthe blast of air proceeding from the fan-wheel chamber. This blast ofair, in passing through the current of corn, will separate from it thedust and extraneous matters, and drive such up and beyond the plane L,from whence they will fall out of the machine.

I would observe that by the employment of the spring or elastic arm 9and the weight k, with the presser-board E, in manner as described, theboard will operate much better than it would were a spring only used topress it toward the wheels B O, or were a simple stiff lever and aweight suspended therefrom employed for such purpose. The weight exertsa constant pressure on the presser-board, which is requisite for itsproper action, and furthermore, the spring-arm enables the presser tomove more quickly and easily than it would were the arm stiff and thepresser-board to overcome the inertia of the weight. With the spring-armand-weight I have found the kernels are less liable to be cracked orbroken by the Wheels than they would be were a spring alone used withthe presser, or were a weight and a stiff arm employed to force thepresser up to the ear of corn and the latter up to the wheels B O. Thecob, on reaching the curved chnte,'will be driven up the same by thewheel 0, the resser-board H serving to keep the cob in contact with thewheel. In this way the cob will be discharged out of the throat Gr. Thusit will be seen that by the action of my machine not only will thekernels of corn and the cob be separated from each other, but the cornwill be winnowed from dirt and dust or bran and the corn-cob or dust orbran will be disposed in separate piles or places. When the cob isdriven up into the discharging-throat Gr the back board or part, 00, ofthe throat will arrest the cob, and the wheel (3 will revolve it so asto remove from it any remaining kernels. At the same time the wheel willact so as to force the cob upward and drive it into and through. thethroat.

\Vhat I claim as my invention in the said machine is as follows:

The arrangement of the discharging-throat G and its back board orpart,m, with the curved chute F and the wheel O, to operate asspecified.

GEO. WV. FITTS.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, 1 P. HALE, Jr.

